Photo By Allison Hoy | Sgt. 1st Class Corlan Hernandez, of 7th Infantry Division at Joint Base Lewis-McChord,...... read more read more
JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. – It was his first time painting Santa Claus and only his second time entering an art competition, but Sergeant First Class Corlan Hernandez, of 7th Infantry Division at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, won Morale, Welfare and Recreation’s Dec. 2 giant holiday card contest with his realistic, retro Kris Kringle.
His sparkly Santa card, painted on a 4’ by 8’ plywood sheet, evokes old-school Christmas vibes from the ’40s and ’50s. It was selected by command leadership to win $500 in unit funds for 7th ID and is displayed with other units’ cards at Devotion Park, Lewis Main.
Hernandez’s rendering of the jolly old elf shows a Santa with merry red cheeks and an open-mouthed smile, closely resembling classic storybook pictures. He wanted the artwork to look like a store-bought greeting card, and his talent allowed him to make that dream a reality.
“It just comes into my head,” he said. “I’ll see the canvas, and I see it exactly how I want it to be, and then I just draw it or paint it.”
Soft-spoken and self-taught, Hernandez has completed one or two artistic pieces per year for the past couple of years, and he takes drawing requests from family members and friends. However, the unassuming Soldier took a five-year break from art at one point, and he usually separates his artwork from his work as a satellite communications operator.
“It’s hard, because in the Army it’s like a totally different mindset than being an artist,” he said. “I can’t combine the two. I’m either a Soldier, or I’m an artist. If I’m doing artwork, I have to be focused in on that, which means that other side is going to be lacking.”
The holiday card contest combined his work and his hobby, but that wasn’t a problem. He spent close to 40 hours painting Santa in his garage, and his supervisor, who had asked him to participate in the contest, was flexible with his schedule.
“I’ll do it again,” Hernandez said, adding, “I don’t feel like I was finished with this one. I would’ve gone in and (added) a little more detail to it; I feel like it was probably 90% done.”
With just over 17 years in the Army, Hernandez plans to put more time into his artwork after retirement. Meanwhile, though, when he does have the time, he describes his process as “almost like meditating.”
“I’m just zoned-in totally into the project, down to the very centimeter, millimeter of the piece that I’m working on,” he said. “It just feels like refreshing or recovering or healing.”
| Date Taken: | 12.09.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 12.09.2025 14:05 |
| Story ID: | 553562 |
| Location: | TACOMA, WASHINGTON, US |
| Hometown: | TACOMA, WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 14 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, 7th ID Soldier paints Santa, wins money for unit fund, by Allison Hoy, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
